Effects of Nitrogen and Hydrogen Codoping on the Electrical Performance and Reliability of InGaZnO Thin-Film Transistors

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2017-03, Vol.9 (12), p.10798-10804
• Main Authors: Abliz, Ablat, Gao, Qingguo, Wan, Da, Liu, Xingqiang, Xu, Lei, Liu, Chuansheng, Jiang, Changzhong, Li, Xuefei, Chen, Huipeng, Guo, Tailiang, Li, Jinchai, Liao, Lei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b15275

Despite intensive research on improvement in electrical performances of ZnO-based thin-film transistors (TFTs), the instability issues have limited their applications for complementary electronics. Herein, we have investigated the effect of nitrogen and hydrogen (N/H) codoping on the electrical performance and reliability of amorphous InGaZnO (α-IGZO) TFTs. The performance and bias stress stability of α-IGZO device were simultaneously improved by N/H plasma treatment with a high field-effect mobility of 45.3 cm2/(V s) and small shifts of threshold voltage (V th). On the basis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, the improved electrical performances of α-IGZO TFT should be attributed to the appropriate amount of N/H codoping, which could not only control the V th and carrier concentration efficiently, but also passivate the defects such as oxygen vacancy due to the formation of stable ZnN and NH bonds. Meanwhile, low-frequency noise analysis indicates that the average trap density near the α-IGZO/SiO2 interface is reduced by the nitrogen and hydrogen plasma treatment. This method could provide a step toward the development of α-IGZO TFTs for potential applications in next-generation high-definition optoelectronic displays.